Safety-regulator for braiding-machine bobbins.



No. 897,648. RRTENTED SERT. 1, 1908.

T. E. UERTEN. SAEETY REGULATOR EUR BREEDING MAEEINE EORETNS.

APPLICATION PILEDMAY 23, 1907. f

figc 5.

Unire erase i 'THOMAS F. OBRIEN, OF PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY.

SAFETY-REGULATR FR BRAIDNG-ACHKNE invented certain new and useful Improveulatorsfor Braidingments in Safety-Re y described and repre- Machine Bobbins, ful

sented in the followingspeciiication and the l bin isuniform; althoug `3o accompanying drawings, forming a partei the same.

y The present invention relates to an iinproved means of regulating the draft ot' the .thread frointhe bobbin' of a braidingmachine, ,andl :consists inthe application,.to a gravity ,latchpupon the bottom of the bobbin, of'a spring'which can be adjusted at pleasure to regulate the, tension of the thread in proportion to its strength or size.

' Braiding machines rare furnished with movableJ carriers, upon anyof which a bobbin may be placed, and on such carriers itis common to provide a pawl to engage a ratchet on the end of the bobbin to control its rotations as the thread is withdrawn. It' the pawlbe pressed toward -the bobbin with a uniform force, whether of gravity or a spring, it is obvious that its o eration upon the bobbobbins with threads offvarious sizes may be placed upon the carrier which' threads require a very different tensionv to .operate properly. Heretofore, variable weights have been used in connection with the .pawl'to vary the tension upon thethread; butxweights. do not operate with the same promptness as a sprino', and l have thereforedeviseda spring fitted to the pawl in. a particular manner so that it ily adjusted to vary the tension. Loose weights for varying'the tension are also ob- -ectionable on account of their liability to be lost 5 while the spring which lf employ is permanently attached to the pawl and cannot' therefore be detached or lost.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bobbin carrier ,provided with. my improvement, they latch being shown 1n engagement with the ratchet upon the bobbin, and the tension weight sus ended upon the thread, as during the norma loperation of the'weight. Fig. 2 is aplan of the carrier with the bobbin removed and my improvement a plied to the gravityglatch; and Fig. 3 isvv an e evation, like Fig. 1 withthe latch shifted by the contact Specification of Letters Patent.

application filed May 23, 1907.

can be ready Patented sept. 1, 190s. serai No. erases.-

r of the tension weight with the lifter, as occurs when the thread. is momentarily. drawn from the bobbin. I

a designates the foot of the bobbin-carrier which in a braiding machine is carried through a tortuous channel by suitable gearing operating upon thedriver-pin b.

the s iindle d mounted thereon above al shoul fer e which normally supports the bobbin d. rlhe gravity latchis pivoted upon a pin f upon the side of the standard, below the bobbin, and has a pawl r/ which engages the ratchet-teeth h upon the bottom of the bobbin, and it lhas a weight g which overbalances the weight of the pawl and presses the pawl into the ratchet-teeth with a certain degree oi force.

yA guide-post i is extended upward from the opposite to the middle of the bobbin with an eye y'for the passage of the'thread c. A tension weight l is fitted to slide upon the guidepost and 'formed with'an eye m` for the pas-y sage ot' the thread, and with'slo'pin Wings l for working the stop-mechanism o the machine. A lifter-rod n is jointed to thev heel or counterweight of the latch by a rivet o and formed at its upper end with a loop n -to loosely embrace the post i.

'The thread, as shown in Fig. 1, is carried from the bobbin through the eye 'j in the post,l thence downward through lthe eye m in the tension weightand then upward through an `eye p upon the top of the post, from which it passes tothe cord or wire around which it is braided.

The parts just described are of usual construction, and when in operation'the slack o the thread, while such. slack is being braided upon the cord or wire, is taken up by the vweight Z, which thus hangs below the loop a of the lifter-rod, but when such slack is entirely absorbed the 'weight is lifted into contact with the loop and operates to raise the counteiweight g and draw the pawl g teinporarily from the ratchet of the bobbin. A partial rotation et' the bobbin results, which furnishes more thread and instantaneously allows the tension weight to drop, thus relocking the bobbin until the fresh supply of thread is exhausted. The tension weight is thus yslowly rising during the consumption of the thread and then dropped again after its contact with the loop n-,which ives off the `additional supply of thread. he'weight ly foot a at the side of the bobbin, and is formed The carrier supports a standard c having ico also performs the function, if the thread be broken from any cause', of causing the stoppage of the machine, by droppingto the bottom of the post; with the sloping wings l of the weight (shown in Fig. 2) operating upon suitable'stop-mechanism to arrest the -movement of the entire braiding machine and all of its bobbins.

The apparatus so far described has been extensivey used, but has the grave defect that the counterweight upon the gravity latch, if of unvarying character, is not adapted to resist the rotationof the bobbin in the variable manner that is desirable in drawing off threads of different sizes.

A ne thread necessarily operates under a very light tension, as a heavy tension would cause a breaking of such thread, and if the weight of the gravity latch and the tension weight l are suitably proportioned or designed to operate with such a light thread, theyare unsuitable for operation with a heavier thread, which requires a heavier. tension to prevent the spool from turnin too rapidly.

It is found 1n practice that w ere the gravity latch operates under the sole influence of its counterweight it often allows the spool to turn faster than the thread could be consumed in the braiding operation, thus producing a slack in the thread which-permits the tension weight Z to dro and cause the stoppage of the whole mac line. The present invention rectifies this defect, by a articular construction for a wire spring w ich permits it to be attached securely to the stud of the-pawl and to o erate upon the pawl by means of a free en which can be manipulated at pleasure, and readily bent ,to-,increase or diminish its pressure upon the pawl. To secure the spring wire to the stud, it has its end 1' inserted in the hole in the stud f through which the linch-pin or cotter s is inserted to hold the latch in place. This secures it upon the stud, and from the side of the stud it is extended more than half a circle in a coil around the stud, and its free end r2 extended to the rivet o upon the heel of the latch. It

`will be noticed that the end r of the spring wire is projected from the hole in the studf upon the side nearest the counterweight g and the stud or rivet o upon which the lifterrod ln. is jointed. This enables the wire to be bent in a coil around the stud away from the rivet o, and then extend toward the rivet to rest upon .the same, thus securing a much greater length for the wire than if it were extended directly from the stud to the rivet.

The spring is made of suitable sized wire, and bent before its application to4 the rivet, so as to produce a downward pressure thereon, which increases the resistance of ythe pawl g to the rotation of the bobbin. Such a spring I have found may be pro ortioned to use safely with the lightest thread commonly employed in` braiding machines, and ajtthesame time capable, by opening the coil 1 in a suitable degree, of producing an increased pressure upon the rivet o and an increased resistance to the movement of the latch when lusing larger thread.

The application of such an adjustable spring to the gravity latch constant y regulates the movement of thespool in the p roportion -thatthe thread is used, thus keeping a uniform tension upon the thread andpreventing the formation of any slack to permit the dropping of the weight and the conse- Y quent stop ing of the machine.

It is evi ent that, as a considerable number of bobbins is used in a braiding machine,l

the operation of all is arrested whenever a provement can, by avoiding the sto page heretofore common and by the regulation of the tension, be run at a speed materially greater than the machines unprovided with the invention, and my improvement thus enables a machine to turn out one-third more output. A A The invention is applicableto all braiding machines for whatever urpo'se they are used, if'they are provide with the gravity latch shown herein, as the spring ywire can be made of suitable strength. and its coil bent in a suitable manner to produce exactly lthe' tension re uired for any size of thread.

Adjusta le means have been used to vary the weight Z, but such weight doesnot act directly upon the pawl li e my adjustable spring, and does not produce the same eect,

as it produces an increase of the tension, A

withouty increasing the resistance of the pawl to such tension.

I have found in practice, that where my wire spring is adjusted for the lightest thread,

it operates to regulate the tension of a somewhat larger thread without any different adi justment, and this, is due to the fact that a I am aware that a spring has'been used to retain the latch in either an operative or inoperative position; ,butA operating otherwise merely to hold the pawl in a working position and not-furnishing any means of varying the ltension, as with the spring which I have devised. My spring permits adjustment by its possession of the free end 7j? applied loosely terweight and to slightly bend the s ringwhen it is desired to increase or diminis the tension. i

1. In a braiding machine, the combination, v,with the ,carrier and the bobbin having ratchet-teeth h, the stud f upon the carrier below the bobbin, the gravity-latch iitt'ed to the stud and having the pawl g to engage the ratchet-teeth, and the counterweight g to actuate such pawl, of the wire spring secured upon the stud f and extended in a coil r around the same and said coil terminated in the free end r2 applied to the said pawl for increasing its effect upon the latch, the detachability of the free end enabling the wire to be removed and bent at pleasure to vary its tension. f

2. In a braiding machine, the combination, with the carrier and the bobbin having ratchet-teeth h, the stud f upon the carrier 'below the bobbin provided with yli-nchin hole across'the end, the gravity latch fitte( to the stud and having the pawl g to engage the ratchet-teeth andthe counterweight g to act'uate such pawl, of the wire spring having its end. r inserted in the hole with the linchpin and extended from the hole toward the counterweight end of the latch, thence bent in a coil r around the stud and having its free end 4r2 applied detachably to a stud or rivet o upon the counterweight, the detachability of the free end enabling the wire to be removed and bent at pleasure to vary its tension.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

TrioMAs E. oBEiEN.

Vitnesses:

L. LEE, THOMAS S. CRANE. 

